Thursday, 30 August 2012

I have written a lot about children in my
blogs. This write-up is also focused on children but contains valuable
information on seeing the best in children during tough stages in life.

Every single day in life is not
the same. There are ups and downs in each individual’s life. We have to deal
with these variations very carefully as we as group-ups are the mentors for our
children. Children often look at
their elders to see how they react under different situations and then copy
their behavior. Hence; it is very important for elders to make a sort of
decorum in their life even if they are going through a tough phase in their
life. In this blog; I have enumerated various examples, which will help you
understand the need for empathy and positive outlook in life.

But first of all let me start off
with a famous quote of getting through tough times in your life.

According to Mary Manin Morrissey,

”Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life. What is it you would let go of today?"

This is a great quote which
highlights the theme of this blog. In order to move ahead we need to let go certain
things and look at the positive side of every situation. Always believe that
there is a silver lining around the corner that will keep you motivated and you
will encourage your children to feel the same. They can also derive the
confidence from you to deal with tough times with best possible attitude. This
is a very huge thing which not only requires patience and guts but also enough
confidence in you to remind yourself that:

Tough times don’t last long; but tough people do.

Now let me get back to our topic
of discussion and enumerate different ways to see the best in children during
tough stages in life:

Try to show empathy towards others: During
tough times it is very difficult to think about others; leave alone the
thought of helping others. But even a smallest of gesture can enlighten
the day of another person. For example; you are under debts for the
business you have done earlier and are lamenting over the need for doing
business with that particular party. If a small child comes over and
smiles at you; you should always smile back as that will make their day.
It will also make you feel happy thereby doing something good for other
without any pressure or commitment.

Read a good literature: When you
are going through a difficult phase books are your best friends. The best
thing is to escape from the realities of this world by reading a picture
story book to your 4 year old toddler. This way you will forget about your
worries.

Build self-reliance and confidence in
children: When your child is in a spot of bother the very first thing
that comes in our mind is how to help them resolve their concern. In
future always remember that they will be on their own. Hence; always try
to make them self-reliant and independent by dealing the problems their
way but always tell them that you are there for them.

Learn something from the loss: When
life becomes tough due to some of the careless decisions that we have
taken the most probable thing is to understand the mechanics behind the loss.
Even for small children who do not have logical thinkers, they also
understand clearly about the things that led to the loss. It might even
lead to an inexplicable discovery of facts.

Listen attentively: This is a
challenging task when you are dealing with a crisis. I can understand this
thing because I have had a personal experience where it becomes very
difficult to listen attentively when you are thinking about something else
while dealing with your day-to-day activities. In case of children, you
need to overly patient because they will be playful and will speak a lot.
So do not speak until and unless you have heard them attentively.

Monday, 13 August 2012

Children are very
delicate as they can be molded very easily in early childhood. There is also a
threat that they can become rebellious and take on negative personality habits
which can prove to be quite fatal for their future. In this blog, I have
concentrated on some basic points which help in inculcating positive
personality development habits in children since early children from the
perspective of a tutor.

I have always stressed about
innovative teaching techniques in my blogs. But in this write-up, I will look
at different aspects which lead to personality development in young children.
Remember in my first blog I mentioned that my primary focus would be on
children between the age group of 3 to 15 years. Hence, I will continue with
the same target audience but with a different frame of mind. I will try to find
out different aspects which sum up to define behavior of children in particular
order. In this blog, I will start off with the definition of personality and
then the different facets which help in developing personality in children.

So how would you define
personality? Now you will say that it is the sum of culture, behavior, ideas,
thoughts and emotions which makes up a human personality. But my question is do
these young children have any idea of culture? Let me take you take you to the
journey of my early childhood and show you how culture can never be a part of
personality of a young child. Since childhood my parents always used to
encourage me to play, interact with people, enjoy games and make friends but I
was not able to make friends. In fact I was not even good at interacting with
people. Children of my same age group used to come at my house and play with my
toys. Some of them used to take the toys with them but I never used to tell
anything to my parents. Now I hope you can understand while my parents always
gave me the freedom to interact with people and move out it became even more
difficult for me to do that because I was of a reserved nature. Hence, culture
does not play a part in the personality. It is the way we behave according to
our pre-conceived notions that build up our personality. Now when I look back
at those days, I really cannot understand why I used to fear from interacting
with people. Even mingling with unknown people was a big thing for me. But now
things have changed.

So does that mean that my
personality changed over night? Or when I was in my early childhood I
constrained myself with the fear of hurting others due to my sensitive nature?
Whatever it was; it did not last for a long time. Soon after I graduated and
moved out I found out that life is all about expressing yourself; and trying to
find a place for you in this big bad world! Hence, from there; the journey for
my self-discovery started. Okay now let me cut the topic, and concentrate on the
subject at hand. So, what I am trying to explain is that every child is unique
as enumerated millions of times in my previous blogs. Try to show them the way
through gentle means. Always be patient with them and encourage them to speak
their heart out. In addition to these; I have mentioned some useful guidelines
which can inculcate positive personality traits in children since early
childhood. Let us look at them in detail:

It is
often said that “Curiosity is the virtue of the
child” and this saying is absolutely true. Children have this
uncanny knack of asking questions; which sometimes seem to be irrelevant. But
according to them these questions are very important. Hence, answer the
questions with as much patience as possible. Never lose your temper; or use
bad language in front of children. Remember children learn from their
parents and tutors. Create
a healthy atmosphere while teaching children. Encourage them to come up
with innovative ideas.

Remember
“Knowledge is bliss”. Always
watch informative serials on television with your child. Ask them to read
interesting articles from newspaper which can build up their knowledge.
This can make them learn about practical things creatively.

Recommend
the use of dictionaries and encyclopedia to children. This will help them
to gain useful insights about new words and various things happening
around the globe.

Do not
instill fear in the minds of children. Remember fear leads to lie and you
do not want the child to lie to you. Encourage open and honest
communication for better results.

Instill
trust and faith in the children. Never forgot to show your love to them
and always try to inculcate positive things to thing. Remember a positive
mind helps in developing a positive personality.

Since
early childhood explain the importance of time management to the child so
that they can use the time frame in productive use as much as possible.

In the end it is all about giving
lots of love and affection to the child so that they see the world as a warm
and beautiful place to live in. This is the secret of building a positive personality
in children since early childhood. If you wish to comment or post your feedback
to us; feel free to follow us at:

Friday, 3 August 2012

It is always fun to have a healthy discussion on a hot topic because
it brings about the best information on the subject matter. So, I read
lots of articles on the subject “What is the relevance of tutoring in
the 21st Century Education?
Does it really serve the purpose of providing quality assistance to
students?” The research showed that day-by-day the number of class
sizes in schools are increasing which makes it tougher for the students
to get personalized attendance from the teachers. Although technology
has made things easier for us, students have become the ultimate
sufferers because of the trend. I have seen students hooked on to
computers for a long period of time to do their homework, to access
chat rooms, instant messengers, games and more. With that the
admissions in schools and colleges have become competitive. Students
now have to get specialized knowledge in addition to regular studies to
stay competitive and keep maintaining their grades. Moreover, parents
have also become busier. We are already seeing both parents of children
working to maintain the house. This adds up to the pressure and shows
how the current generations of students are facing problems to cope up
with the students.

Even if a student is struggling to get the right grades in schools and colleges, it is not their fault. Tutoring
is not meant to replace classrooms but it is an augmented facility
which helps the students to get proper guidance which is now missing in
classroom education. A classroom is the basic foundation on which the
house i.e., student’s career stands. But if you do not have a good
structure i.e., proper guidance, come winter it would show up cracks.
Hence; it is very important to have a good structure so that all the
cracks in the foundation are filled. I found some interesting facts
which provide enough evidence to showcase the real need for tutoring in
the 21st century education:

Provides personalized, one-on-one attention

Gives a chance to students to clarify doubts and ask relevant questions

Builds confidence and develops study skills in students

Provides growth opportunities to students

I also researched a lot to understand the key characteristics that define a good tutor. Let us look at these characteristics:

Enjoys working with children and build good rapport with the child

Should be kind, understanding, patient and fair

Should be able to teach alternative methods for better learning of the children

Should be able to initiate customized plan for each child so that there is personal growth in each child

Should have a workman kind of spirit i.e., They should be punctual, dependable and steady

The next step was to understand the role of tutors in the lives of
students. An interesting quote from Helen Keller came across while I
was researching on the topic. It read “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”
This quote is absolutely true. Without proper guidance and
instruction, children will lose focus and concentration. The most
astonishing detail that I found while researching on the importance of
tutors in the lives of students was that even in the most comprehensive
schools in USA (even government schools) the teaching
quality was poor. The teachers would spend the entire first term on
complex numbers, the next two terms on the next four topics leaving the
last three topics to be rushed in the last few weeks of the exams. One
of the prime reasons for this is low expectation from teachers for the
students. The most depressing thing is that teachers were going
through the motion and completing the course for the sake of it without
imparting proper guidance to the students.

You can get relevant details on the topic by copying and pasting this URL on a separate browser:

Let us shift our focus to tutors and understand how they can play a significant role in the lives of students:

Understanding the expectations of the student from the course deliverable

Determining the type of content relevant for good preparation for
exams and using it in the best possible manner for the student

Providing proper feedback to the students after assessing their results

The need for closely following the curriculum followed at schools including examination patterns

Providing alternate methods to students in case they do not understand the orthodox method of teaching

Discussing the progress of the student with the teachers and parents

So, we can say that a tutor is someone who has a central part in the
education of the students. They are the ones who stand as a pillar
between teachers and parents and intervene with either of them to get
the best results for the students. But tutors also have their own share
of problems. They need to deal with a predicament of providing
assistance to students or doing the work for them. Normally we find
that tutors have also been teachers hence; it becomes very difficult
for them to change their attitude. When you are working as a tutor you
have to develop the perception that students are not reading on their
own. They find it difficult to grasp the subjects in classroom
atmosphere. The accountability factor also is higher in comparison to
teachers. While teachers do not directly share the burden of each and
every student, tutors have to not only help the students in their
day-to-day assignments but also solve the concerns of the students
personally through a step-by-step process. This way student can get the
desired attendance from the tutors and are able to excel in their
studies.

I suppose now you have a clear idea of the importance of tutors in
the lives of students in 21st century education. You can also go
through the following URLs to get more information on this subject:

The next topic of discussion was the role of parents in enhancing
the education of the students. Parents are role-models for the
students. Students adopt the characteristics of parents
sub-consciously. Hence; it is the moral responsibility of the parents to
take care of the tutoring business of their children. In an
interesting article on “Better tutors vs. better parents: recent PISA
study”, OECD conducted several exams as a part of their Program for
International Student Assessment (PISA) testing the knowledge of 15
years old students on the basis of science and math problem-solving
techniques. The results found that parents who are more focused on their
child’s education play a key role in the student’s achievement. There
were two findings of the studies which included:

15-year-old students whose parents often read books with them
during their first year of primary school show markedly higher scores
in PISA tests than students whose parents read with them infrequently or
none at all.

The performance advantage among students whose parents read to
them in their early school years is evident regardless of the family’s
socio-economic background; and parents’ engagement with their
15-year-old kids is strongly associated with better performance in PISA
tests.

This goes to show that good parental actions towards child’s
learning at home can boost their confidence. It also helps them in
taking tutoring lessons seriously. To learn more about the role of
parents in their child’s academic achievements copy and paste the URL
on a separate browser:

Children are the future of human mankind. Hence; it is very
important to boost the working memory, which is an integral part of
brain development process for children. In this article; we look at
different activities which can boost the working memory in children.

A well known scholar once said “A good memory is like a bagful of
gold.” Therefore it is very important to build the + memory of children
in their formative years. Working memory stores crucial information,
while other material which is taught in schools forms the foundation
for complex skills and knowledge. Children are very innocent in their
early days. Hence, they can retain lot of information in their brains. A
child who has poor working memory will find it extremely difficult to
take on activities and face problems in learning. A recent research
claims that memory deficits, if not found in early childhood can lead
to extreme conditions; that can affect the academic performance of the
child.

Let us now see different activities that can boost the working memory in children:

Kim’s game: This is a very popular game played by
young kids that provides memory building exercises for them. It
contains various selections of objects and number of words. These things
are displayed to the child and then the objects are covered up. Kids
then have to determine which item has been removed. This game can be
played with different sets of objects.

Repetition: This activity ensures that children
retain information for both short term and long term memories. It
consists of reciting times tables, test questions and regularly viewing
vocabulary cards. Study shows that with regular retrieval practice the
child’s memory can be increased substantially.

Number and letter sequences: If you want to teach
your child a foreign language then number and letter sequences is a
very probable answer. It comprises of short number sequence and then
gradually builds up digit by digit. The child then gets a minute to
revise it after which the number sequence is removed completely. The
child then has to recall as much of the sequence as they can. This
process is repeated for letters.